Sectarian attacks at east Belfast interface
PROTESTANT residents at an east Belfast interface have been forced to install protective shutters over their windows after a spate of sectarian attacks.
Homes at the bottom of the Newtownards Road and Duke Street have become the targets of youths from the nationalist Short Strand area.
Community workers in the area say in recent months there have been regular incidents, with attacks mounted at least twice a week.
The focus of the thugs is a memorial to local men who were killed by the IRA but when they are confronted the youths turn on the houses.
The homes on Duke Street are sheltered accommodation for people with disabilities and the elderly, and have had paint, bricks and a variety of other missiles thrown at the rear of the properties over a 15ft fence separating it from Bryson Street.
Residents on the Lower Newtownards Road, facing the Short Strand, are now so fed up with damage to their homes that they have re-erected metal shutters that the Housing Executive had removed some five years ago.
Some had kept them in their gardens and over the last couple of weeks have put them back up again to protect their windows during the night-time attacks.
One resident, who asked that their name not be published for fear her home would be further targeted, said various objects had been thrown at her property, some narrowly missing her two young children.
She said her house has been pelted with bricks, stones, golf balls, nuts and bolts during the past four weekends.
"On one occasion the golf ball nearly hit my son, and I'm concerned that in the current situation a child is going to be hurt," she said.
"I feel like I can't go out in my front garden and play with my kids. It's got to the point where I have thought about moving home, because I'm concerned about my children being hurt.
"I have lived in this area all my life. I have seen it bad and I thought those days had stopped. It's not a normal way for children to grow up and live."
She said "tensions are high" and residents were calling for a public meeting to deal with the issue.
"My concern is it's going to escalate and get worse before it gets better," she said.
The young mother and a community worker in the area, who also wanted to remain anonymous, said a CCTV camera which was installed to identify any interface trouble is not doing the job.
The camera's default position was not pointed towards the interface, she said, and on other occasions it was found not to be operating.
"It defeats the purpose, given there was that many meetings to erect the thing. It could be used as a deterrent, but it's never on," said the mother-of-two.
A police spokesman said the PSNI was "aware of the impact these incidents have on the local community and work tirelessly to tackle the problem".
He said they take a "pro-active approach, working in partnership with local community groups and the local council".
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Weather for Belfast
Wednesday 30 May 2012
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